Man Vs Tech: New MacBooks And iOS6

MacBook Pros, Maps And... Modern Warfare?

Apple fans and developers converged on San Francisco earlier this week for Apple’s WWDC event. Why? Some big Apple announcements, including the new MacBook Pros with a 15-inch model packing a Retina display, super-fast quad-core processing up to 2.7GHz, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 768GB of storage (prices starting at £1,799) . It’s also thinner by around 25 percent and lighter. How did they do this? No idea. And I’ve also no idea how they’ve managed to get seven hours out of the battery. If you’re in the market for a notebook, the new MacBook Pro is where it’s at.

But that wasn’t really the cool bit of the event. Apple also announced the new iOS 6 operating system, due this autumn for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, that will usher in a host of new capabilities and boot out Google Maps. Why? Apple wants a slice of the massive pie that is “location”, so with a little help from TomTom it’s delivering its own Maps app with iOS 6. But it may also be delivering all-out airborne warfare…

Both Google and Apple have now commissioned private reconnaissance planes — rumour has it perhaps even unmanned drones — with military-grade camera technology to map Earth in so much detail, it’s theoretically possible to peer in through people’s skylights and see what they’re reading. With any luck, we’ll see a few Top Gun-style dogfights between the two rivals’ aircraft in the process. And that process won’t be limited to the US. The planes will be circling the UK (your place, included) to record a level of detail so fine that your own butt crack, cleavage or temporary indiscretion may soon be an internet map sensation for all to see. And it’ll be available in 3D. Tip: before you do anything, look up.

Good News Or Bad News: The AppComputer scientist-in-training Lorraine Chambers is currently studying for a Master’s in software engineering at the University of Portsmouth and has just unveiled her project which Man vs Tech roundly applauds: it’s an app that warns you if a message is likely to make you feel good or bad. Lorraine Chambers, therefore, is about to be a very rich student indeed.

Or rather, she might be had she considered charging for it. At present, she and her supervising senior lecturer Mohamed Gaber are exploring ways to make it freely available. If it’s a success, it’ll be readied for iOS. Blackberry-using business types who possibly need to know most if the message is cataclysmically bad vibes from head office don’t get a look in.

The app (working title: Stress @ Work) automatically colour codes incoming messages as green for positive, blue for neutral and red for negative. If all you’re seeing is red, well then simply choose to address those later when you’re feeling less fragile. If it’s all green, go ahead and open them up. The colour coding applies to text messages and emails as well as social networks like Facebook and Twitter, which must be a bit of a blow to all those celeb “haters” (or just your really angry other half) whose choice words may now be headed off at the pass by technology.

“This information has an immense power,” explains Gaber. “Whether we are reading a worrying social media news story or a warning email from our manager, messages can upset mood and increase stress level, just as good news and encouraging emails can cheer you up.”

Exactly like the flood of green emails Chambers and Gaber are about to receive from investors who want to see this licensed quick-smart and at stratospheric profit margins onto all the mobile operating systems out there. Let’s hope they succeed.

Underground And Online: Virgin WiFi Hits Tube StationsHere’s a picture from London’s Victoria underground station, on the Victoria Line. I know this because I took it, and if you think it’s dull, you’re right. But this is just the beginning. Because, as promised, in time for the Olympics, free Virgin WiFi is now available on the underground at selected stations (just the six for now) across the network. So you can expect thousands more of these awkwardly-shot photos finding their way up to the surface through Virgin’s WiFi and out onto the web.

Weirdly, it’s addictive. Sending a Tweet from beneath London’s streets is novel and recommended… for all of 10 seconds. What’s possibly better is that soon we’ll all be privy to society’s greatest data sharing possibilities: videos or even real-time streaming of drunk people on the platform having fun/having a fight, couples arguing/snogging and… Tube mice.

As for checking your emails? Well that seems like the last thing you’d want to do – by the time you get to reply, the train’s moving off. So all this underground tech is great, but it’s a bit like standing outside your home and logging onto your own WiFi for the novelty value… and then just walking off. Let’s wait and see if the Olympics – or a brand with a plan that’ll make the underground WiFi engaging beyond just being there – can make it all worthwhile.